Delta Spent $3 Billion to Try and Make LaGuardia More Travel-Friendly

One of America's worst airports is getting less and less miserable. Delta's brand new LaGuardia Airport Terminal C is set to open to passengers at the New York hub on November 4.

The $3.9 billion project features floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook Citi Field in Queens (where the Mets play) and Flushing Bay. There are also new dining options, including New York heavy hitters like H&H Bagels, Rossi Pizzeria (from chef Mark Iacono of Brooklyn's Lucali Pizzeria), Flatiron Tavern & Provisions (from chefs Jess Shadbolt and Clare de Boer of Soho restaurant King), Birch Coffee, and Juice Press.

Terminal C will eventually have four Delta concourses, but only one will open on Monday. The 105,000-square-feet concourse includes seven Delta gates, each of which the airline promises are larger areas with plenty of seating and "ample" outlets. When the entire new terminal opens a few years from now, it will have a total of 37 gates across the four concourses, a new Delta Sky Club with an outdoor Sky Deck, and space for two taxi lines outside to reduce wait times for passengers.

Inside Delta's new LaGuardia Airport Terminal C

Chris Rank

The new Terminal C is part of a larger $8 billion overhaul of LaGuardia that begin in 2017. It's the second new terminal to open in the sweeping construction project, which is erecting the new buildings while the old ones are still in use—a strategy that has caused severe traffic and logistical problems for fliers. The project's first new Terminal B opened in December 2018, with a Shake Shack, Irving Farm Coffee, District Market, and MAC cosmetics.

Delta financed the majority of its new Terminal C, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport, kicked in $600 million for the project. Airlines around the U.S. are beginning to do the same: funding the majority stake of their own new terminals. Many of America's airports are in desperate need of upgrades—Airports Council, an industry trade group, estimates U.S. airports will need $128 billion in renovations by 2023—but few government dollars are put toward these projects. As a result, many airlines are taking matters into their own hands.

"An airline views its 'statement' facilities—especially at hubs and large focus cities—as integral to its unique brand proposition, designed to capture and retain high-spending corporate and individual travelers," says airline analyst Bob Mann. "This is why you see airlines taking control of facilities development, funding those facilities (with recent tax benefits for capital expenditures), and selecting concessionaires that are a good match for its 'vibe'."

In addition to its funding of LaGuardia's Terminal C, Delta is investing a total of $12 billion in airport redevelopment efforts around the U.S., including much of the $3.6 billion effort to rebuild the Salt Lake City airport. Similarly, JetBlue is financing construction its own completely new $3 billion terminal at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, where the now-demolished Terminal 6 building once stood.

American Airlines and British Airways likewise pledged $344 million to improve areas for themselves in JFK's Terminal 8. A consortium of foreign airlines, including Lufthansa, Air France, Japan Airlines, and Korean Airlines, operating under the name "Terminal One," is designing and funding a massive new $7 billion, 2.9 million-square-foot terminal on the south side of JFK where Terminal 1 and 2 currently stand. American Airlines also struck a deal with its Dallas-Fort Worth hub to finance a new $3.5 billion sixth terminal through airport bonds, largely repaid by the airline's rates and fees.

But just because the airport looks great doesn't mean it'll be a totally smooth experience. "Unfortunately, airlines have comparatively limited say over runway capacity improvements, so even the nicest facility cannot reduce arrival delays, unless the airport authority has the available land footprint and the ability to fund new runway construction," Mann explains. So although the terminals at LaGuardia are improving, the jury is still out on whether the airport—consistently one of the most delayed in the nation with an on-time average of just 66 percent this summer—can improve the rest of its operations for passengers.